Well,
Then there is this:
“No, the B-1B carries about 2/3s the payload of the B-52H, that is one reason 35 B-1Bs (along with the high operating costs of the Bone) were selected for storage at DM.
Quoting DL021 (Reply 2):
I think you were looking the specs for the B-1A. It was rated to be able to carry somewhere around 115k lbs counting both internal and external loads.
I believe that the B-1B can carry around 40-45k lbs payload.
That is correct.
BTW, the B-2A can carry up to a 60,000lb payload. The B-52H carries up to 70,000lbs.”
Also that payload game is largely over. That’s a relic of the 1950s. Some of our thermonuclear weapons of the day were 25 feet long and weighed in at 42,000 lbs.
The other use for a huge capacity was for conventional use of iron bombs. Both of those uses are basically over today.
Modern nukes are small, and often launched in stand off mode.
About the only modern conventional use for a 52 is like Afghanistan. Where we have a utter air supremacy, and we can orbit all day dropping JDAMs. But we wouldn’t get away with that against a nation that could shoot SAMs.
Anyway, does anyone know exactly what shot down the F-16? SAM, Manpad, or AAA?
B-52
Payload: 70,000 lbs
Ceiling: 50,000 ft
Speed: 650 kn
Inventory: 76
Nuclear-capable
B-1B
Payload: 75,000 lbs
Ceiling: 30,000+ ft
Speed: 900+ kn
Inventory: 60
Non-Nuclear-capable
B-2
Payload: 40,000 lbs
Ceiling: 50,000 ft
Speed: 650 kn
Inventory: 19
Nuclear-capable